


i 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Shelf 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 





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V 






ELFIE’S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND 
AND THE MOON 


OR 


THE TRICKS OF E-MA-Jl-NA-SHUN 



FRANCES VESCHLIUS AUSTEN 


ILLUSTRATED BY E. J. AUSTEN 



BOSTON 

ESTES & EAURIAT 

PUBLISHERS 


/ 


Si' 









Copyright. 1S91, 

By FRAN’CES VESC?:LILIS AUSTEN. 



Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston, If.S.A. 


Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston, U.S..\, 


CONTENTS. 


Trick the First. 

PAGE 

How Elfie wondered about the Moon and Mother Goose, and how E-ma-ji-na- 

shun appeared out of the Smoke ........ 9 

Trick the Second. 

WTat E-ma-ji-na-shun told Elfie about himself, and the Wonderful Ride to 

Cloudland in a WTeath of Smoke. — The Castle in the Air . . . 17 

Trick the Third. 

How Elfie met the North Wind, and what he said to her ..... 25 

Trick the Fourth. 

The Toy Castle. — The Wonderful Things and Funny Sights that Elfie saw 

there. — Maggie May. — The Sick Doll . . . . . . 31 

Trick the Fifth. 

Isabella tells Elbe her Sad Story. — How the Rocking-horse threw the Jockeys 

over his Head. — The Rocking-horse’s Song 40 

Trick the Sixth. 

Elfie meets Grimgufifin. — His Sad Story. — E-ma-ji-na-shun takes her to visit 

the Toy Factory ........... 46 


Trick the Seventh. 

Elfie visits Santa Claus 52 

Trick the Eighth. 

Mother Goose and her Troubles. — The Celebrated Broomstick ... 58 


5 


6 


COyTEX'fS. 


Trick the Ninth. 

PAGE 

Mother Goose’s Home, and all the Stories. — Little Red Riding Hood tells 

Elfie all about the F'airy Story People. — A Piece of the Moon . . 65 

Trick the Tenth. 

A P'evv Facts about the Moon. — It is made of Cheese. — Elfie and E-ma-ji-na- 

shun start for the Moon on the Broomstick. — The Cloud-Ship . . 73 

Trick the Eleventh. 

lilfie arrives at the Moon ........... 78 


Trick the Twelfth. 

lidfie returns to Earth. — Where is E-ma-ji-na-shun — The New Puzzle . . 83 


ELFIE’S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND 


AND THE MOON 







•V'" 



.‘1 


I 


TRICK THE FIRST. 




How Elfie wondered about the Moon 
and Mother Goose, and horv E-ma- 
ji-na-shun appeared out of the Smoke. 


NCE upon a time, although it was not 
such a very long time ago, there lived 
a little girl named Elfie Rer home was with her papa and 
mamma in one of those pretty villages on the banks of the great 
Hudson River, which you all know winds through the State of 
New York. The mighty Catskill Mountains, where old Rip Van 
Winkle was lost, were quite close to her house. 

She was really a very pretty child, with brown eyes and lovely 
fair curling hair, and was seven years old on her last birthday. 


TO 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 




Besides her papa and mamma she had a most delightful grandma 
and grandpa, who lived with them, and who used to tell her the 

most beautiful fairy 
stories that any little 
girl ever listened to. 
Then she had several 
aunties who lived in 
the city, one of whom. 
Auntie Louie, was quite 
as good as a story book 
herself; for she had been 
all over the world, and 
loved to tell tales of her 
travels to all who would 
listen to her. There 
was an Aunt Eva, who 
was very fond of Elfie, 
and would play with her 
by the hour; and an Un- 
cle George, who was 
just as good and kind 
as Uncle Georges al- 
ways are in the story 
books. So you see that 
Elfie had no lack of friends, and had so many people to tell her 
stories that her little mind was full of Mother Goose and gob- 
lins, and princes and fairies, and all the won- 
derful things that have been written for the 
amusement of children since the beginning of 
the world. 

Now you would think that if ever there 
was anybody who ought to be happy, Elfie ought to have been ; 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


1 1 


but in spite of all the stories she had heard and read, and in 
spite of the many playthings she had to amuse her, she was 
sometimes the most discontented little girl 
that ever lived. She was always wishing 
for something that she did not have — one 
day for a bigger dollie, another for three 
birthdays a year, another for something else, 

— always wishing, wishing. 

You have all read or heard of the little 
boy who cried for the moon. Well, Elfie 
actually did that, too, until she grew old 
enough to know that no one could climb up 
to get it for her; and then she began to wish 
she could go there. She kept wishing this 
so much, that at last she began to think of 
very little else, and when in the evening it grew dark, so that she 
could not see to play any more, she would 
creep away to a seat at the window and 
watch for the moon. 

One thing that surprised her more than 
anything else about the moon was the way 
it would first appear as a tiny streak, and 
then every night grow a little bigger, till at 
last it was as big and as round as the prize 
pumpkin Elfie had seen at the State Fair. 
She supposed it must grow during the day; 
but then no sooner did it become quite 
round and full than it would get smaller 
every night, just as mysteriously as it had 
grown, till at last it would disappear alto- 
gether, to make way for a new one. This 
puzzled Elfie a great deal; and although she did not speak to any- 




ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 




body about it, for fear they would laugh at her, or give her some 
funny answer, she often wished some one would tell her the rea- 
son. She became so curious 
about it that she even dreamed 
about it, but her dreams never 
told her why the moon grew 
larger and smaller, or why it 
disappeared and 
came again. 

Another thing 
that worried El- 

fie greatly was, whether Mother Goose was a real 
person or not. “ Who was she ? ” she wondered ; 

“was she a ‘surely’ old lady who gave up her whole time to writ- 
ing those wonderful rhymes, or was it only just make believe?” 

Then who were Little 
Tom Tucker, Humpty 
Dumpty, Little Jack 
Horner and all the 
other delightful people 
she wrote about ? Did 
they really live any- 
where, or were they 
like old Mother Goose, 
just “ made up ”? 
gracious ! when Elfie 
began to think and wonder, it seemed as 
if she never would be able to live long 
enough to find out all about it. To be 
sure. Uncle George always talked about 
Mother Goose and Jack and Jill, and the rest, as if he knew them 
quite well ; and she was quite sure in her own mind, that Santa 



ELF/E'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


13 



Claus was a real person, because her papa and mamma and every 
one of her aunties used to speak of him, just as though they had 
met him; and did he not always bring her the loveliest presents at 
Christmas ? 

Elfie used to feel that if she could only be grown up, she would 
know all about him, the same as every one else. 

One Christmas Day Santa Claus had brought her more pres- 
ents than ever, and among them was a splen- 
did book of Mother Goose’s rhymes full of 
pictures. Elfie thought she never would 
get tired of reading it, and looking at 
the lovely pictures ; but after all, it only 
set her wondering more than 
ever, as to where the artist 
who drew the portraits of all 
these people could have seen 
them; for he must have seen 


them somewhere, she thought, 
or he never could have made 
these beautiful pictures. 

One of her papa’s friends 
was an artist, and he was also 
a great crony of Elfie’s, so she 
made up her mind that the very first time she saw Mr. Krome she 
would ask him about it. It was not many days after this that 
Mr. Krome called at the house and found Elfie sitting in a great 
easy-chair in front of the fire in the parlour, with her wonderful 
book. 

“Well, my little wonder-child," he said, “what’s the trouble 
now? and what is the last mystery that little head is puzzling 
itself over?” You see Mr. Krome had heard something of Elfie’s 
funny questions. He took the little girl on his knee and sat 




14 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 



down in the chair; then she told him all she had been thinking 
about, and wound up by asking him where the artists found all 

the pictures of Tom 
Tucker, Jack Horner, 
and the rest of Mother 
Goose’s family. 

Mr. Krome smiled 
a little at the number 
of questions that Elfie 
had asked him, but 
said, after a little, — 

“ Well, my dear, I 
will tell you. You 
must know that all 
these people live in a 
country that floats 
about in the air just 
above our heads ; one 
cannot see it or ever 
go to it, without the 
aid of a certain good 
fairy, who sometimes 
visits a few of us mor- 
tals, and whose name 
is E-ma-ji-na-shun. The country is the ‘Realm of Eancy ’ or 
‘ Cloudland.’ 

“ Now if you will let me hold you tight and will look straight 
into the fire, I will try to persuade old E-ma-ji-na-shun, who is 
quite a good friend of mine, and often calls upon me, to pay us a 
visit and take you to this wonderful country, where you will per- 
haps be able to see some of these good people yourself.” 

Elfie cuddled close up to her friend and fixed her eyes on the 


EL FIE' S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 15 

fire. For some time she could see nothing but the coal gleaming 
in the grate, with here and there a deep fiery chasm, while from 
the mass of black, unburned coal on the top, shot and flickered 
tiny little blue flames, which seemed to Elfie as she sat in her 
friend’s lap, to leap and dance and take on all sorts of fantastic 
shapes. By and by, while she was still looking hard at the fire, 
she saw that the thin bluish smoke, which had been floating up 
the chimney in faint streaks, was no longer rising very high from 
the coals, but was collecting in a little mass of vapor just above 
the fire, and was slowly taking on the shape of a tiny man. As it 
grew more and more distinct, she saw that he was very, very old, 
and that he had a long white beard, which reached nearly to his 
toes. He was dressed in the same 
queer fashion as she had seen the 
pictures of goblins and gnomes in 
her story books. The color of his 
garments seemed to have been bor- 
rowed from the tints of the fire and the 
smoke from which he had come. His 
tightly fitting jacket, or doublet, was 
black like the blackest of the coals; so 
was the outside of a cloak which fell from 
his shoulders, the lining being the color 
of the flame; his legs were clad in orange- 
colored tights, with black trunks slashed 
with fiery streaks. His hair and beard 
were the color, and had the same vapory 
look, as the smoke; the color of his face 
was a mixture of hot coals and ashes, his eyes being formed by 
two of the brightest coals, and twinkled with so much life and 
jollity that Elfie could see that even if he was as old as his hair 
and beard made him appear, he was as full of fun and frolic as 



i6 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


a boy: his head was capped with a ruby-coloured tam-o’-shanter 
with a yellow feather. To complete his extraordinary appearance, 
he was only about fifteen inches high. 

As soon as he was fully formed, he stepped out of the fire- 
place, and came forward to where Elfie sat on Mr. Krome’s knee. 
He took off his cap with a low bow, and said most politely, “At 
your service, my lady. What is your will?” 


TRICK THE SECOND. 



E-ma-ji-na-shun told Eljie 
about himself, and the tuonder- 
ful ride to Cloudland in a 7vreath 
of smoke. — The Castle in the 
Air. 


I wasn’t a bit frightened, but 
looked up at Mr. Krome to tell 
her what to say. He had al- 
ready nodded familiarly ^ to the old gentleman, and said in answer 
to his question, — 

“ First tell this young lady a little about yourself, and then 


7 


i8 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAXD. 


take her on a visit to the ‘ Realm of Fancy.’ ” The little old man’s 
eyes glowed and twinkled merrily as he sat down on a hot coal, 
and placed his little feet on the top bar of the grate. He began 
to talk in a quaint, funny little voice which sounded for all the 
world like ashes dropping from the fire. 

“ My name, my dear, is E-ma-ji-na-shun, and I am six thousand 
years old or older. I have lost track of my birthday for a long 
time, but I am just as old as the world. I am the King of the 
Realm of Fancy or Cloudland ; indeed, I created it, as well as all 
the people who live there. I have been acquainted with all the 
great people that ever lived ; and long after they have died, and 
the history of them has been written, the historians who have 
lived at a later period have had to come to me for information 
about them. Sometimes I would forget what I had told them, 
and tell somebody else something quite dif- 
ferent about the same man ; but it has 
made very little difference, and the world 
has gone on just the same. I invented 
every story that has ever been writ- 
m, and have told them to the peo- 
le who have had the credit of 
Titing them; but they have been 
such good friends of mine 
that I have been glad of their 
success. I am always pleased 
to make new friends, especially 
among little girls and boys ; 
and any child who makes a 
friend of me, and does not neglect me as he grows up, is sure 
to become famous. But there are a great many who think they 
are cleverer than I am, and sit down to write without giving me 
full liberty to stir their ink for them or ride on their pen. 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAXD. 


19 


“ I must say, however,” he added, with a funny little look at 
his toes as he swung on the top bar of the grate, “ that some peo- 
ple are better without me. I am afraid I have helped to ruin 
numbers of business men who have come to me for advice instead 
of going to my brother. Common Sense; for I may as well own to 
you at once, my dear, that I don’t know anything at all about 
business, and I always get the worst of it when I try to have any- 
thing to do with it. I have always let Common Sense and Expe- 



rience, another brother of mine, look after the printing and selling 
of my many books ; it has been quite enough for me to do to 
invent them.” 

All the time that E-ma-ji-na-shun had been talking he had 
been fidgeting about, first in one position, then in another, so that 
it had been quite hard at first for Elfie to keep her eyes on him, 
but as he went on she found it easier. He now selected a very hot 
piece of coal for a seat, and crossing his legs, went on, — 

“ I have always tried to use my talents for the benefit of only 



20 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAXD. 


honest men and women ; still I have assisted a great number of 
dishonest folk to earn a living. For this you must not blame me, 
my child. If wicked people will get hold of my ideas, and use 
them for a bad purpose, I am sure I can’t help it. If they would 
put these same gifts to a good use, they would always do better, 
as my brother Experience is forever telling them. 

“ My greatest work in the story-telling line,” he continued, in 
answer to a question of Mr. Krome’s, “is, I have always thought, 
‘The Arabian Nights.’ 

“ I wrote that book centuries ago; and though I could do just 
as well to-day, if some clever man would only employ me, still 
people go to that, instead of coming direct to me. Yes, they use 
the same old stories to-day; they put them in a new dress, and get 
me to touch them up here and there, disguising them so, some- 
times, that even I can hardly recognise them.” 

While he had been speaking he had been stirring the coal with 
his toe until there was now quite a cloud of smoke rising up the 
chimney; and as he came to an end, he took off his cap again and 
he held out his hand to Elfie. 

“Come, little one, and we will explore the wonderful land you 
have heard about — my Realm of Fancy, the beautiful country of 
Cloudland.” 

Elfie stretched out her hand, and the little man, who seemed 
as strong as a giant, lifted her down from the chair. In one sec- 
ond more he had seated her comfortably in a cosey nook he had 
made for her among the blue wreaths of smoke, and before the 
little girl could have an idea of where she was — pouf! — shoo! — 
she was up the chimney and out of it, floating away to Cloud- 
land. 

Elfie could never tell how she got through the chimney; when 
she looked at it long after, it seemed quite impossible that she 
could have squeezed into it. As it was, she never felt it, and was 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


21 



through so quick that she only caught one glimpse of its black 
sides. 

She could only explain it as one of the wonderful tricks of 
E-ma-ji-na-shun. 

They seemed to 
float through the air 
as though they really 
were part of the smoke 
they were seated upon ; 
indeed, when Elfie had 
partly recovered from 
her astonishment, and 
was able to look round, 
she saw that she had be- 
come quite like vapour; 
and as for old E-ma-ji- 
na-shun, she could see 
right through him. 

It was a splendid 
ride through the clear, 
frosty air. Elfie was 
surprised that she felt 
quite warm, and when 
she spoke of this, her 
guide told her that so 
long as anybody was with him, and treated him properly, they 
need never feel heat nor cold, hunger nor want. 

Away they floated over the village where Elfie lived with her 
parents. She could see the chimney they had come from quite 
plainly, and she was not surprised to be told by the merry old 
gentleman that if she wanted to spend the time, they could float 
over the houses of her friends, and he would tell her just what 


22 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 




they were to have for dinner, or what they were thinking about ; 
but Elfie was in too great a hurry to explore the Realm of Fancy 
to bother about that just now. 

Higher and higher they went, till the village 
became a mere speck beneath them, and the great 
river a tiny silver thread. They were already 
among the clouds when Elfie saw that the air 
all round them was thick with snow. “ Ha! 
ha!” laughed E-ma-ji-na-shun, “Mother 
Goose is plucking another one of her flock 
for dinner.” 

“ What do you mean ? ” asked Elfie. 
“Haven’t you ever heard of that?” ex- 
claimed the old man. “ Whenever it snows 
on the earth,” he said, “ it is a sign that old 
Mother Goose and her children are to have a 
goose for dinner, and the flakes are the feath- 
ers that she plucks from the bird. That is 
the reason 1 called her Mother Goose, and,” he sagely added, “ I 


made up that story a long time ago, — in fact, quite soon after I 
created the old lady, — and I consider that she and her history are 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


23 


among the most successful efforts I ever made in the Realm of 
Fancy — but here we are!” he cried briskly; “step off carefully 
on to this piece of rock, and we will go and have dinner at once, 
at one of my castles in the air.” 

Elfie almost gasped for breath in her astonishment. The 
smoke she had come up on had disappeared ; the snow, the 
clouds, were gone, and here she was standing on the wide stone 
steps of a beautiful castle, just such a castle as she had seen 
in one of Mr. Krome’s pictures. There were the gates, the moat, 
the drawbridge, the battlements, the portcullis that protected the 
entrance, a burly soldier in iron cap and leather jerkin standing at 
the farther end of the drawbridge, — everything that 
she had read about in her fairy-story books as 
being necessary for a first-class castF. 

“ This castle, Elfie, my dear,” said E-ma-ji-na- 
shun, “ is your own especial property, and whenever 
you want to come here and enjoy it, all you have to 
do is to shut your eyes and call upon me. I will 
bring you here before you can count ten. Come 
along, and let us have dinner.” 

They crossed the drawbridge, which the soldier 
on guard had lowered with a tremendous clatter as 
they came near, and passing under the portcullis entered the lofty 
hall of the castle. There was a splendid fire of logs blazing away 
in an enormous fireplace, and coming to meet them were two of 
the dearest old retainers that ever were read about in any story 
book that w as ever written. They said, both speaking at once, 
“ Dinner is served in the dining-hall ! ” and Elfie with E-ma-ji-na- 
shun lost IK' time in following them there. 

They sat down to a glorious dinner consisting of everything 
that Elfie liked, and she was afraid once or twice as she ordered 
another help of some of the very sweet things, that her mamma 



24 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


would appear and tell her not to eat so much. But E-ma-ji-na- 
shun told her that nothing she could do or eat in the Realm of 
Fancy would ever hurt her. 



After she had eaten of every kind of candy and dessert that 
she had ever tasted, and a great number she had never seen 
before, they started out from the castle to see the wonderful 
things that E-ma-ji-na-shun had promised to show her. 


TRICK THE THIRD. 



Hem Eljie met the North Wind, and what he said to her. 

HEN they had crossed the drawbridge, passed 
the soldier, who respectfully saluted Elfie as 
though she were a princess, and walked down 
the great stone steps, Elfie had an opportunity of looking round 




\ 

her and 

seeing what a j 

really remarkable 
place this country was. 

There were hundreds of just such castles as her own to be seen 


25 


26 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUD LAND. 


from where she stood, and E-ma-ji-na-shun told her that they be- 
longed to poor people who could not afford to live in a real castle 
on earth. Away off in the distance were a range of mountains, 
which glistened so gloriously in the sunlight that she was not 
astonished when her guide told her they were made of solid gold 
and silver. 

Many of the trees which grew round the castles had diamonds, 
emeralds, and rubies hanging on them for fruit, and the way they 
sparkled and glowed as the light fell upon them was a sight to 
behold. 

All sorts of animals, some of familiar appearance, and others 
strange, were prowling about. They could all talk quite well, and 
were all busy, E-ma-ji-na-shun told Elfie, looking for something 
they might do or say that could be worked into a story, which, he 
said, was the only use they were. 

They strolled on gently, Elfie looking from side to side with 
delight, when she heard a terrible rushing, roaring noise, and at 
the same time felt an icy cold wind blowing past her and into her 
face. She looked up to see the cause of the cold and the noise, 
when she heard a big blustering, boisterous voice shouting, — 

“ Hullo ! Elfie ! Is this cold enough for you ? ” 

She looked round for her friend, but knew quite well before 
she saw him that it could not be he who had spoken. No; there 
he was, sitting in his goblin fashion on the limb of a tree, laugh- 
ing and chuckling and throwing his little feet in the air with mer- 
riment. 

Elfie looked higher, and saw what she felt sure must be one 
of the famous giants she had read about. It was the form of an 
enormous man nearly sixty feet high, seemingly made of ice and 
snow. He had on an ice overcoat, a crown of ice, and a snow 
beard. His face appeared to be made of strawberry ice cream, 
and his legs and feet were two great blocks of frozen snow; his 









ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


29 


hair was composed of icicles, and under his arm was a tremendous 
pair of bellows. On looking further, Elfie saw that he had just 
come from a gigantic cave in the side of an iceberg which was float- 
ing around in a crimson lake. 

“ How did you leave all your friends down below on the 
earth ? ” he roared. 

“ How do you know I came from the earth? ” said Elfie, who, 
seeing that E-ma-ji-na-shun was laughing away heartily, was not 
a bit scared. 

“ Ho, ho! don’t you know that I visit that place quite often? 
I am the North Wind, ha! ha! Whew-w-w,” he whistled. 
“ Haven’t you been out with your sled in winter and felt me 
blow on your nose till it was so numb that you couldn’t feel it? 
Haven’t I nipped your little fingers and toes and driven you in 



girl." 

Elfie was surprised to find the giant was the North Wind, 
but she spoke up brave and strong: — 

“ Well, I don’t think you are very kind to little children. I 
am sure I don’t like you a bit, and I wish you wouldn’t speak 
to me.” 

“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the giant, so heartily that a regular 
shower of icicles fell round his feet. “ Ha, ha, ha ! That’s all 
you little girls know about it. Why, I am one of the very best 
friends the children have. I make your blood fly through your 


30 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


body, and force you to run about to keep warm. I give you line 
ice to skate on, and freeze the snow so that you can go sleigh- 
riding. I make you as hungry as a hunter, so that you run home 
and eat so much that you grow up strong and healthy men and 
women, able to do something in the world, instead of lolling about 
all day, and having to be waited on, like the children who never 
feel my cold, healthy breath — but I can’t stay talking to you any 
longer. I must be off to Minnesota to help the good folks of St. 
Paul along with their Ice Palace, or else they will be grumbling 
at me finely. So good-bye, Elfie ! Stick to old E-ma-ji-na-shun ; 
he is the best friend of the children, and the old folks as well. 
Good-bye. Whoop ! — Swish ! — Whizz ! — Whew-w-w — w ! ” and 
away flew the North Wind, leaving a long track of ice and snow 
to mark his passage — “Like the tail of a comet,” said E-ma-ji-na- 
shun, as he came down from his perch on the tree. 


TRICK THE FOURTH. 


The Toy Castle . — The Wotulerful Things ami Funny Sights that Eljie saw there . — 
Maggie May. — The Sick Doll. 

very far from the crimson lake on which floated 
iceberg which contained the cave of the North 
ill \y%J Wind, Elfie saw a very large castle which was quite 
lijc different from the others she had seen. It some- 

how reminded her of the dolls’ house which she 
had at home, although it was a thousand times larger, and she 
thought to herself, I wonder if that is where the dollies live. 
E-ma-ji-na-shun, who never seemed to want her to speak, but 
who answered her thoughts just as though she had really asked 
the question, said, — 

“Yes, you are quite right; that is the home of the dollies — 
in fact, it is more : it is Toy Castle, and in it are made and stored 
all the toys that are used on earth. Let us go and see them ! ” 

In front of the castle, or house, or villa — Elfie hardly knew 
which to call it, for it looked like a mixture of all of them — was 
a very pretty garden, set out with toy trees, and laid out with imi- 
tation flower-beds and gravel walks. The front of the house was 
a queer mixture of a castle, a villa, and a doll’s house. They 
opened the front gate and walked up the path leading to the front 
door ; on each side of this walk were little green trees, all placed 
very neatly on round stands and carefully arranged in two per- 


32 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 



fectly straight lines. They were all nicely painted a bright green, 
and were evidently the pride of the doll gardener who attended 
them and who was leaning up against the 
fence. 

When they reached the 
door, which was paint- 
ed green, like the 
trees, they saw it was 


adorned with a very handsome knocker, and that there were also 

two bell handles, one on each door- 
post. To be quite sure, they pulled 
each bell and knocked a rat-tat-tat on 
the knocker. They had not long to 
wait before the door was opened by 
a very trim little doll, dressed in a 
neat cotton gown, with a cute, pretty 
apron and a tiny lace cap. She was 
not half as tall as Elfie, and had had 
to stand on a chair to reach the door- 
knob. 

She made a stiff little curtesy, and 
• said in a very funny voice, — 


ELFIE'S J7S/T TO CLOUDLAND. 


33 


“ Will you be pleased to walk in, madam ? ” 

She spoke her words without any change in her voice, all on 
one note, like this, — 



and stopped short at the end as though she spoke 
by clockwork, “ which is exactly what she does,” 
said E-ma-ji-na-shun, in answer to Elfie’s thought. 

They followed the hired girl dolly into the 
hallway of the villa, and she turned with funny 
little jerky steps into the parlour on the right, and 
held open the door for Elfie and her companion 
to follow. 




34 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


When the little girl looked round the room, she at first thought 
she must be in an immense toy store. The ceiling was so high 
up above her head that the paper lanterns hanging from it, and 
with which the room was lighted, seemed like tiny stars. There 
were thousands of these lamps, and they gave a pretty good light. 
Very little light came in at the windows, for though they were 
real glass, they were nearly covered by the curtains painted on 
them. “Just like' my doll’s house,” thought Elfie. 

Toys of every kind lay scattered all over the room, and hung 
from hooks in the walls and ceiling. Some of them Elfie had 
never seen before, but many looked like those Santa Claus had 
brought on Christmas Day for her and her little friends. Then 
there were dolls of all sorts, conditions, and sizes, amusing them- 
selves in all sorts of ways, while a great number simply hung 
from the hooks or sat on the shelves, which ran all round the 
room, and looked gravely on at the others playing. 

Some little boy dolls were having a lot of fun spinning a great 

top, which was larger than any 
one of them ; more of them were 
riding round the room on toy bi- 
cycles, or playing football with 
rubber balls, while a group in the 
corner were trying to break in a 
very fierce and restive rocking- 
horse, which seemed to take great 
delight in kicking the tiny jock- 
eys off as soon as they had mounted him. 

Against one side of the room there was a great pile of dolls, 
some in boxes, and others simply wrapped in tissue paper, and 
most of them only half dressed. There were so many of them 
that Elfie could only just see the top of the heap as it stretched 
up towards the ceiling. 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


35 


Then on the floor, on the chairs, on the tables, were other dolls, 
big dolls and little dolls, white dolls, black dolls, red dolls, gentle- 
men dolls, and lady dolls, though by far the greater number were 
ladies ; walking about and talking with sweet little clockwork 
voices, and playing all sorts of cute little games. Some of the 
ladies were dressed most gorgeously in satin, silk, tulle, or lace, 
and as Elfie stood looking at them with delight, a band of toy 
musicians struck up the “ Blue Danube ” waltz, and straightway 
a space was cleared on the floor, the dolls took partners, and away 
they started with a dance. Round and round the room they flew, 
and no doubt they would have kept on dancing forever if the 
music had not stopped with a loud click! — and the conductor of 
the orchestra came forward and said, — 



“ Ladies and gen-tle-men, the band wants winding up.” 

Then the dolls who had been dancing walked round the room 
three or four times, arm in arm ; and the gentlemen dolls said 
to the lady dolls, “ May I fetch you 
something ? ice cream or lemonade ? ” 

And some of the ladies said, “ No, 
thank you, I am not the least 
tired or thirsty.” And others said, 

“ Well, if you will be so kind, I 
will take just the tiniest morsel of 
ice cream — or the smallest drop 
of lemonade.” And then the gen- 
tlemen dolls would go into the 
corner and come back with other 
little waiter dolls who carried tiny trays with glasses with real 
lemonade in them, and dishes with a wee speck of ice cream 
which the lady dolls tasted, and seemed to enjoy very much. 




36 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAXD. 


and altogether they appeared to be having a very good time 
indeed. 

While Elfie was laughing and enjoying the sight, with the aid 
of E-ma-ji-na-shun, who explained everything she did not quite 
understand, one of the lady dolls who was very richly dressed in a 
purple silk polonaise with a canary satin skirt, 
and real lace at her throat and on the sleeves, 
came up to her and said, — 

“ How do you do? I am pretty well, thank 
you. How did you leave your mamma and 
papa? It is very nice weather. I think it will 
rain to-day — click ! ” 

Elfie had a hard job not to laugh at the 
strange, squeaky little voice, especially as all 
the time the dollie was speaking she could hear 
the whir-r-r of the clockwork which served her 
for lungs. When the young lady had reached “ rain to-day ” she 
stopped short, opened her mouth two or three times without 
speaking, and then pointed to a hole in her side. 

“ She wants winding up,” said E-ma-ji-na-shun. 

So Elfie took one of the keys that were lying on a table, 
and wound her ladyship up. Directly it was done, she began 
again. 

“ You seem to be surprised that we are having such a good 
time here. But you see, this is our home, and the home of all 
the dollies that are made, until a batch of us are sent for to keep 
up the supply on earth. At Christmas time the house is cleared 
out entirely, and Santa Claus takes the whole lot with him to sup- 
ply the little earth children. Then during the year, as the chil- 
dren’s birthdays come round, more of us are sent for, and it keeps 
the workmen busy making us fast enough. Some of the dresses 
that you see have taken quite a long time to make. The dress 



ELFIE'S lYSfT TO CLOUDLAND. 


37 


that I wear took one of the best of the dolls’ dressmakers two 
whole days to make — click ! ” 

Elfie looked again at the dollie’s frock, and saw that it was 
very much finer than any of her own, and the fine lady doll was 
gazing quite scornfully at Elfie’s gown. But Elfie’s mamma had 
taught her not to think so much about her dress as her behav- 
iour; so she said to the doll gently, — 

“ I suppose you haven’t any kind mamma to teach you to be 
good and unselfish ; mine has told me that so long as my clothes 
are clean and whole, I should never be ashamed of them.” 

The doll looked surprised and tried to speak, but only made a 
whizzing noise with a click — ! click — ! and pointed to its side. 
Elfie wound her up again, and she said, — 

“Why, I never heard of such a thing. All we have to think 
about up here is the kind of dress we are going to wear, and the 
number of times we shall be asked to dance.” 

“Poor thing!” said Elfie, for she thought of all the loving 
talks she had had with her kind mamma, and the funny stories 
her papa had told her. 

“ I hope you can be sent to me on my birthday, or next Christ- 
mas, so that you can hear all the good things I do.” 

“ So do I,” said dollie, “ for I shall have to belong to some- 
body, and I would rather be given to you than to some little girl 
who would not be so kind to me.” 

“ I would give you the loveliest name 1 ” cried Elfie. 

“What would you call me?” piped dollie. 

“ Maggie May!” replied our little traveller. “ I have a great 
mind to call you that now, as long as I am here; shall I ? ” 

“Oh, yes!” squeaked the doll; “and then I shall not find it 
so strange to be called by a name when I go to the earth. Oh, 
dear! when I think of going, I feel quite wretched! We lead 
such lovely lives here, and play all day long the most delightful 


38 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


games that dear old Santa Claus invents for us. We are always 
sorry when the time comes for us to leavje, for we never know 
what our future will be. Some of the dolls have come back to 
tell us of their adventures; one dollie, — click! — ” Elfie wound 
her up again, and Maggie May continued: “whose mistress, 
named Isabella, came back here yesterday, and I will ask her to 
tell you the sad things that happened to her.” 

Maggie May walked across the room with her funny jerky walk. 


and stopped in front of a little invalid chair which 


yl\ 



stood in one corner. In it lay a poor, pale- 
faced dollie, propped up on pillows. She 
looked frightened, and shook her head when 
Maggie May spoke to her; but in a few 
moments Maggie nodded to two little sailor 
dolls who had been very busy in the recess 
behind the invalid playing with a toy ship, a 


very fine specimen with three masts, and 
fitted with ten brass cannons. These 


merry tars hitched up their pantaloons, 


touched their caps to Maggie May, and giving a yo-heave-ho I 
raised the invalid chair with poor Isabella on to their brawny 
shoulders ; then with the greatest of care, they brought the chair 
and its suffering burden over to where Elfie was standing, and sat 
it down before her. Isabella looked a little 
bit afraid when she saw Elfie, but 



little girl looked at her so kindly 
and with so much pity, that the 
afflicted doll took courage and held 
out one thin little arm. 


Elfie took her up, and saw that 

she was a cripple ; she had only one arm, and but one leg ; her 
head was quite bald, and one of her poor eyes was out. 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


39 


Elfie did not like to ask her how she came to be so miserable, 
for she looked so much like one of her own little dolls that she 
had thrown into the woodshed out of the way, that she felt 
ashamed. The little doll didn’t wait to be asked questions, but 
after being wound began to tell Elfie of her adventures. 


TRICK THE FIFTH. 


Isabella tells Eljie her Sad Story. — How the Rocking-horse threw the Jockeys oi'er his 
Head. — The Rocking-horse' s Song. 

SABELLA gasped and wheezed a great deal at 
first, and she had to be refreshed by winding up 
quite often. I will leave out all the gaps in her 
story, which ran like this, — 

“ Last year I was as beautiful a doll as any 
that you see here. I could dance lighter, and 
could walk with fewer jerks than any of them, and 
all the gentlemen dolls used to be jealous of my 
attentions ; but on Christmas Day Santa Claus 
took me away and left me at a beautiful house 
down on the earth. It was night when we arrived, and I was 
very much frightened when he went down the chimney with me 
in his arms, and a lot of other toys on his back, and hanging to 
his belt. The little girl who was to be my mamma was fast 
asleep, and when I saw her pretty face I felt very glad I was 
going to have such a sweet mistress. 

“ I was placed with the other toys on a large Christmas Tree 
in the parlour, and when I bade Santa Claus good-bye, my head 
was full of the fun the little girl and I would have the next day; 
but I soon got tired of staying up on the tree and should have 
fallen asleep if I had not had on my nice silk frock with the lace 



40 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


41 


apron. I did not want to muss my lovely dress, for we dolls 
think more of our clothes than anything else, so I had to stay 
awake. 

“ There were a number of square frames on the walls, some of 
them with very large dolls’ heads hanging in them. One looked 
very like the little girl I had seen asleep up stairs, while another 
was a very sweet-faced grown-up doll, but who was quite dead, 
for she did not understand any of the doll language that I spoke 
to her. 

“ I was very glad when morning came, and a servant maid 
came and threw open the window shutters, letting in a flood of 
morning sunshine. Pretty .soon in trooped three lovely children, 
who shouted and screamed with delight when they saw the tree. 
The little girl who was to be my mamma soon had me down 
from my perch and hugged and kissed me as though she would 
eat me. I thought I should love her very much, as she seemed 
to care so much for me. 

“ Soon after, a lady came in, and then I saw that what I had 
taken for a doll’s head hanging in the frame, was really a portrait 
of this lady. She looked very sweet and lovely, and was my 
owner’s mamma. 

“ My little mistress thought I was the nicest present she had 
ever had. For a long time she was very careful of me, and we 
had some lovely games together. She used to tell me all her 
secrets, and I should have told her mine, but she could not under- 
stand the doll language as you do while you are in Cloudland. 

“ But at last she began to tire of me ; -she cared for me less 
and less, and one terrible day — a day I shall never forget — she 
pulled off my arm and one of my legs, and threw me into a dark 
closet. My hair caught on a nail, and was torn off my head in 
the fall. I cried bitterly. The pain of my broken limbs was not 
so bad as the feeling that my mistress, who had loved me so 


42 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


much, should have treated me so badly. There was a walking 
cane, which belonged to my rnamma’s papa, in the closet, and he 


^^1^ in a very gruff voice to be quiet. He said he 
had to walk all over the town during the day, 
nd could not have his rest disturbed by the 
crying of a doll-baby. I did not stop soon 



enough to satisfy him, and he knocked one 
of my eyes out. After lying there for what 
seemed to me to be an age, I heard the well- 
remembered step of Santa Claus outside in 
the room. I shouted loudly, and he came to 
the closet and carried me away. 


“ I have been slowly getting better since 
I have been back here, and I suppose I 
shall be repaired and sent back, but you 


may fancy how I dread it. I cannot tell you of all the horrible 
things I suffered. During the last days of my stay I was terribly 
neglected. I was once left out on the wet grass all night, and I 
have suffered from rheumatism ever since, while I have been 
slapped and beaten over and over again when I have committed 
no fault. I wish I could stay here forever,” sobbed poor Isabella 
as she concluded her story and sank back in her chair. 

Elfie felt very sorry for the poor dollie, for her heart told her 
that that was the same way she had treated more than one of her 
own dollies, and she thought Santa Claus must be very forgiving 
to overlook her faults and bring her a new doll every Christmas. 

But there were so many things in this wonderful toy castle to 
take her attention that she was soon thinking of something else. 
She kissed poor Isabella, whose clockwork heart gave a grateful 
“click” at the embrace, and nodding to Maggie May she moved 
off to further explore the wonders that were all around her. 

Elfie had not taken a dozen steps before she heard a tremen- 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


43 


clous clatter in the corner where she had seen the little jockey 
dolls trying to master the rocking-horse. She went over to see 
what was the matter, and she found that the animal had reared 
up right on to its nose, and thrown every one of its 
would-be riders over its head. Four or five of them 
had fallen right into a tub of water where the little 
sailor dolls were busy 
in launching a model 
of the Volunteer rac 
ing yacht. 

Luckily for them, 

E-ma-ji-na-shun was 
near. The old man 
had lived so long that the life-line on 
his left hand was very long and strong, so he threw it to the 
drowning dolls. They all managed to grasp it, and were dragged 
ashore by the brave sailor laddies. 

The horse stayed just as he had thrown himself, with his 
nose on the ground and his hind legs and tail in the air. Elfie 
tilted him back again on to his rockers, and he gave tvv'o 
or three defiant prances before he rocked himself to a stand- 
still. 



“Why, what’s the matter with you, horsey?” said Elfie. 

“Nothing!” snorted the gallant steed. “Nothing! What 
does a girl know about a rocking-horse, anyhow? Ugh!” 

“ Nothing, of course; but why did you throw these poor little 
fellows into the water?” replied Elfie, gently; and she took up 
one of the little jockeys to wipe him dry. He was made of wood, 
and his eyes had a very don t-care look. 

“ Never you mind about ‘ those poor little fellows,’ ” grunted the 
rocking-horse ; “ they are quite able to take care of themselves with- 
out any of your interference ” 


44 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 



Elfie thought the rocking-horse was very impertinent, but 
when she looked at the horse-breakers she 
quite believed him. They were certainly 
the hardest looking dolls she had 
ever seen. Two or three were 
carved out of wood, like the hero 
she had wiped dry, some were 
rubber, while two at least of them 
were made of iron or some other metal, 
and looked able to put up with any tumble the horse might give 
them. 

She looked at the little chap she held in her hand, and he said, 
without changing his stony glare, in a gruff, hoarse whisper, — 

“We’re all right, miss; don’t you bother about the likes of 
us ! We’ve got to break him in before he is allowed to leave 
here, and we’re going to do it, miss, you bet.” 

Elfie was a little bit shocked to hear the little fellow talk slang, 
but supposed that it was the way the jockey 
doll had been taught. She put him on the 
ground and he at once climbed on to the back 
of the rocking-horse, who immediately reared 
and threw him off. 

This last feat seemed to please the fiery 
steed very much. He pranced and 
rocked so fiercely that not one of the 
jockeys dared to go near him. At ^ 
last, after one or two very daring 
leaps, he gave two or three loud snorts and a horse laugh, and 
began to sing. 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


45 


THK SONG OF THK ROCKING-HORSE. 

Though I’m only a horse set on rockers, 

And am made altogether of wood, 

I am wicked clear through to my saddle. 

And I glory in being no good ! 

F ol-de-rol-lol-de-ray . 

I suppose that the reason for this is, 

I was cut out “ cross-grained ” as a colt ; 

Which makes me so vicious and fractious. 

Makes me shy, kick, rear, plunge, and bolt. 

Fol-de-rol-lol-d e-ray. 

Go ! Bring here the man from the circus. 

Who thinks that he knows how to ride ; 

Who is called on the bills the horse-breaker, 

Oh, fetch him ! — I’ll lower his pride. 

F ol-de-rol-lol-de-ray. 

Or bring me the cowboy so joyous. 

Who is known far and near on the plains, 

As the man called the best “ bronco-buster ” ! 

I will give him a fall for his pains. 

Fol-de-rol-lol-de-ray . 

I was made by a left-handed goblin. 
Broken-nosed, with a cast in his eye ; 

It’s impossible ever to tame me. 

Give it up now, you jockeys, don’t try! 

F ol-de-rol-lol-de-ray. 


Elfie laughed heartily at the conceit of the rocking-horse, and 
gave him an imitation apple which she found among a lot of other 
china fruit on the shelf. Then, nodding good-bye to the little 
horse breakers, she passed on to the further end of the room. 


TRICK THE SIXTH. 


Eljie meets Grimgi/ffin. — His Sad Story. — E-ma-ji-na-shun takes her to visit the 
Toy Eactory. 

LFIE walked slowly along, seeing something new 
at every step. As she reached the end of the room 
she saw what she at first took to be a hideous 
ogre, standing up against the wall, and straining 
at her with great goggle eyes. Its head was 
a terrible sight. It seemed to Elfie to be as 
large as the big table in her papa’s library. 

It was nearly quite round, and had a lot of 
hideous red hair on the top and under the 
chin. Its nose was painted a fiery red, and 
its mouth, which was stretched wide open, 
was a red flannel bag. 

Its body was rather small for the head, 
but still as large as a good-sized man, and 
was dressed in clothes which reminded Elfie 
of the clown’s dress she had seen at the 
circus. 

“Whatever is it?” she said to Maggie 
May, who had followed her with her little 
jerky steps. 

“Oh, that’s just a game,” she said, “and it is nothing but 

46 




ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


47 


pasteboard. The way to play, she said, is to take one of these 
balls which are in the basket on the floor, and try to throw it into 
the monster’s mouth. Whenever the ball goes in, a little bell 
rings on the creature’s head, and the lucky player receives a bag 
of peanuts as a prize. 

“ Oh, yes ! ” said Elfie, and as she did not care for that sort 
of game, was going to walk on, when E-ma-ji-na-shun whispered 
to her, — 

“That is all very true, what Maggie May says, but this mon- 
ster was really an ogre once ; he is the very same one that used to 
own the seven leagued boots, and was condemned for his bad con- 
duct to stand with his mouth wide open forever for people to 
throw balls into.” 

Elfie looked at the creature with a new curiosity, and as she 
looked, the monster spoke. He could not close his mouth, so that 
the words were very indistinct, but Elfie made him out to say, — 

GRIMGUFFIN’S LAMENT. 

I used to be an ogre, fond of eating little children, 

My name it was Grimgufifin, see the story in the books ; 

I have been condemned forever to stand here with mouth wide open. 

You’ll own it don’t look easy, and it’s harder than it looks. 

What makes my sad fate harder is, I’m always very hungry, 

I would give the whole wide world to eat a nicely toasted boy ; 

But you see, with mouth wide open, such a thing is quite impossible, 

And base balls are the only food that give me any joy. 

Then as if to tantalise me, when folks try to throw a ball in 
My open mouth, the throwers are all nearly sure to miss ; 

Then I suffer dreadful anguish, for I see the balls all wasted. 

Oh ! I’m sure that I did not deserve such awful fate as this. 

So, if you please, kind maiden, take a ball or two and throw them 
Into my open mouth, I will thank you, I am sure ; 

Just two will keep me going, though of course I’ll still be hungry. 

For I could eat the basketful, and yet be wanting more. 


48 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 



“ Poor old Grirnguffin,” said Elfie, “ I am sure you are being 
punished badly enough for your sins. Here are two new balls 
for you ; ” and she threw two of the balls very neatly into the 
ogre’s open mouth. He was evidently very pleased, and he rang 
the little bell on the top of his head quite merrily as Elfie walked 
away with old E-ma-ji-na-shun. 

They had by this time seen nearly all the lower floor of the 
castle, and Elfie asked her guide to show her the upper part. 


“ Very well, my dear,” said the obliging goblin ; “ come this 
way, please.” 

“Hey presto! Abraca-da-bra 1 Houp-la! Here we are.” 

Elfie felt herself whisked through the air, and before she 
could speak found herself standing in another part of the build- 
ing. 

“That’s my patent elevator, my dear,” said E-ma-ji-na-shun. 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


49 


“ Here we are on the second floor. This part of the house, my 
child, is used for the manufacture of most of the toys that you 
have seen down stairs.” 

It really was a wonderful sight. Hundreds of little goblins, 
who looked something like their King E-ma-ji-na-shun, were hard 
at work, sawing, whittling, cutting, hammering, modelling, sewing, 
and gluing the differing materials used in making the beautiful 
toys Elfie and the other earth children enjoy so much. 

The room was long and low, and there were no windows to be 
seen. Light was provided by millions of glow-worms, who ran 
about with their tiny lamps, and threw a light just where the 
workmen needed it. 

There were hundreds of little tailor goblins seated cross- 
legged on a bench, sewing away on the clothes intended for the boy 
dolls, which were being made by another set of workmen. Then 
there were thousands of lit- 
tle goblin dressmakers, all 
busy making dresses for 
the lady dolls. There were 
tiny blacksmiths and car- 
penters all as hard at work 
as possible; for E-ma-ji-na- 
shun told Elfie that the 
toy-makers could hardly 
make toys fast enough to take the place of those the little earth 
children were always breaking. 

The room was so long that Elfie could not see the end of it, 
and she could not understand how such a long room could be in 
the dolls’ castle, as she had seen it from the outside ; but her guide 
only chuckled and said, — 

“ Another one of my tricks, my dear. Don’t make your head 
ache by trying to explain the tricks of E-ma-ji-na-shun. Now I 



50 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


will show you my head workman and champion toy-maker of 
Cloudland. There he is ; now watch him at work.” 

The workman that Elfie was looking at was a light red gob- 
lin, picked out with green ; that is, his 
face, arms, and legs were red, his body 
was red with green stripes, while his hair, 
eyebrows, eyes, teeth, finger and toe nails 
were green. His nose was a deeper red 
than the rest of his face, 
making a very pleasant con- 
trast. 

He held in one hand a 
long, round stick and in 
the other a little hatchet ; 
and as he stood at his bench, he kept repeating the verse, — 

“Tweeney — Tweeney — Twiney twum — 

Cattle-a-weeney, winey wum — 

Spick, spack, must be done — 

Tweeney — Twiney — T wenty-one. ’ ’ 

Every time he said twenty-one, he would hit the stick with his 
hatchet, and immediately some sort of a toy was made, complete. 
Sometimes a top, or a doll, or a music-box, or a tin soldier, or a 
boat, just whatever he thought the workmen were most in need 
of at that moment. 

Elfie thought it was wonderful ; and she watched old Handi- 
man, which was the goblin’s name, for some minutes, during 
which time he made forty toys, all of them different, and his stick 
seemed to get no shorter. 

“Another trick, I suppose,” said she; and E-ma-ji-na-shun 
laughed heartily. 

When they left him, they walked down to the other end of the 
room. There they saw the goblin bakers making the ginger- 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


51 


bread horses and men that are sold at Christmas. Twenty very 
fat little goblins were busy biting the holes in the doughnuts. 
E-ma-ji-na-shun told Elfie that this work was so trying to the 
nerves of the workm 
that a fresh lot of g( 
lins had to be 
each week. 

Close by was the toy 
animal factory. Here they 
were making rocking-horses, toy 
sheep, rabbits, oxen, etc., one 
lot of workers being kept all the 
time chopping off animals for 
Noah’s Arks. 

Then there was a room for 
baby buggies and express-wagons, and so many things to look at 
that Elfie’s head was nearly turned with excitement. 

The sight of all the toys made her think of Santa Claus ; and 
E-ma-ji-na-shun, who had been running about the room, giving 
directions to first one and then the other, heard her thought, and 
came running towards her. 

“ Come along then, and we will go and see him.” 

“ Isn’t that splendid ! ” said Elfie. “ Oh, make haste ! please.” 

“ Shut your eyes, turn round three times, and say, — 

“ Linkey, linkey, liney laws, 

Show me the house of Santa Claus.” 

Elfie did as she was told. She shut her eyes, turned round 
three times, and said the verse. 

In a second she felt herself lifted off her feet and flying 
through the air; but before she could gasp for breath, her feet 
touched the ground, and she opened her eyes. 





TRICK THE SEVENTH. 


Eljic visits Santa Claus. 


JHEN Elfie opened her eyes she saw she was 
standing, with E-ma-ji-na-shun by her side, before 
the door of a magnificent palace. 

It seemed to be made of ice, and decorated 
with gold and silver, for it shone so in the rays of the sun that it 




really hurt her eyes to look at it. There were towers at each 
corner, with high spires, which stretched so far into the sky that 
52 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


they seemed like threads of silver. The windows all shone with 
many beautiful colours, as though they were set with rubies, 
emeralds, and opals ; and the doorway was a perfect network of 
many-coloured pillars with hundreds of lovely icicles hanging from 
the archway. 

There were walks and terraces all round the palace formed 
out of snow, and snow-trees cut into the most fantastic shapes. 
Snow-men were set along the terraces to serve for statues. 


Elfie gave one good look around before she hurried through 
the archway. There she found herself in an enormous hall, the 
ceiling of which seemed to reach nearly to the sky. It was hung 
with icicles and decorated with glass balls of many colours, and 
was lit up with millions of tiny wax candles, the same as Elfie 
had seen on the Christmas Tree at home. 

In the centre of the hall, and seated on a most comfortable 
looking arm-chair, made of snow, was old Santa Claus ; and Elfie 


54 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


sat down on a snow footstool to examine the kind old man, who 
is so beloved by the children of the earth. 

Elfie noticed that he was very much like his pictures. His 
face was round and rosy, and fairly shone with good-humour ; and 
his snow-white hair and beard helped to carry out the kind look 
of his dear old face. He was clothed in a long red robe, lined 
and edged with white fur; great heavy boots, also lined with fur, 
were on his feet and legs ; his cap was crimson like his cloak, and 
his hands were covered by sealskin gloves. 

He was surrounded by a number of little goblins, who were 
all busy doing something to amuse or please the old man. 

Some Avere bringing him food and drink, while others were 
playing leap-frog over one another’s backs so that he could see 
and enjoy the game. The old gentleman was watching them 
closely, and every now and then he would lie back and roar with 
laughter at their funny antics. 

After a little while he looked over to where Elfie was sitting, 
and saw her. 

She was not a bit cold, in spite of her snow seat, for E-ma-ji- 
na-shun was close beside her. As soon as Santa Claus saw the 
little girl, he called to two of the goblins, and told them to bring 
her to him. 

They turned three or four somersaults on their way; and 
when they reached her, they each seized a hand, and brought her 
to the King of the Castle. 

Santa Claus looked at her very kindly for a moment ; and then 
bending down in the gentlest way you ever saw, he took her upon 
his knee, and gave a great sounding kiss. 

The sound of that kiss echoed through the hall like the crack 
of a whip. Back and forth the echo went until it was lost far 
away up in the ceiling, and making a lot of icicles come clattering 
down like a shower of needles. 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOU BLAND. 


55 


“ Well, Elfie, my child,” said Santa Claus, “ how did you get 
here ? The last time I saw you, you \yere fast asleep in your 
little crib. I thought you had caught me surely once, for you 
woke up, and reached over to see if your stocking was filled ; but 
I managed to make myself invisible till you were asleep again. 
Then I left you all those pretty toys that surprised you so on 
Christmas Day.” 

“ Oh ! ” cried Elfie, “ that is what has puzzled me so much. 
However do you get down the chimney? I am sure our chimney 
is so yery little that a great big man like you could never get 
down.” 

Santa Claus threw back his head, and laughed so loud that 
another shower of icicles came rattling down. There was such a 
perfect torrent of them that Elfie was half afraid she would be 
buried under them, but the little attendant sprites kept clearing 
them away as fast as they fell. 

“Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! my dear, you will have to ask your 
friend E-ma-ji-na-shun about that. He’s the fellow that helps me 
out. Whenever I find a chimney is too small, — and I generally 
do nowadays, — I call upon him, and he helps me with one of his 
tricks. I don’t know how he does it, but he does ; and the main 
thing, my dear, is, that big chimney or little chimney, old Santa 
Claus gets there just the same.” 

“ But how do you manage to go so far all in one night ? ” 
said Elfie. 

“Ask your friend again, my dear. That’s another one of his 
tricks. In fact, I am one of his tricks myself, for he made me 
nearly a thousand years ago out of a great log of wood from the 
Black Eorest in Germany. Of course my reindeer help me out 
a great deal ; and then you know that the earth takes twenty-four 
hours to get quite through the night all over the world, so with 
the help of my reindeer and E-ma-ji-na-shun, and by following 


56 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


the way of the world, I manage to make all my visits before 
morning. But I have to make haste, I can assure you ; and I 
am generally so tired that I have to sleep nearly six months of 
the year. 

“ Then my little goblins here look after the toy factory for 
me, and see to the sending down to the toy stores on the earth 
enough toys to provide for all the birthdays." 

While he was speaking Elfie saw a very funny-looking old 
woman walking towards them, vShe was 
dressed in a black cloak with a red lin- 
ing, a strange-looking steeple-crowned 
hat, a red quilted petticoat, short enough 
to display a pair of very elegant black 
silk stockings with a red clock, with low 
shoes buckled with silver buckles and 
having very high red heels. Her hair 
was white, and neatly arranged in a knot 
and covered with a net: a pair of large 
gold-rimmed spectacles ornamented her 
hooked nose. She appeared to have 
hardly any teeth, though a sweet smile 
was on her face. In one of her hands, 
which were covered with black lace mit- 
tens, she carried a long cross-handled 
stick, and under her arm was a great 
bundle of papers. 

Elfie thought the old lady looked 
very familiar to her; she felt sure she had seen her or her pic- 
ture before, and she was just about to ask Santa Claus who she 
was, when the old gentleman burst out with, — 

“ Oh, dear me ! Here comes old Mother Goose, with a whole 
lot of new verses and stories for me to select those that I think 



ELF IE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


57 


will suit my boys and girls for next Christmas. It’s no use, 
Mother Goose ! ” said the jolly old man, raising his voice, “ I pos- 
itively will not look over any verses to-day ; I am too tired — 
besides, I am engaged — call again when I am not so busy.” 

Elfie thought this was rather good, seeing that Santa Claus 
seemed to have nothing to do but watch his goblins play leap- 
frog and to talk to her. 

Old Mother Goose — but I think that Mother Goose deserves 
a new chapter, so we will turn over and give her one. 


TRICK THE EIGHTH. 


Mother Goose and her troubles. — The 
celebrated Broomstick. 

LD MOTHER GOOSE very evidently did 
not hear what Santa had said, for she came 
hobbling along, humming to herself in a 

“There was an old woman who lived in her shoe — ” 

''None of that!"' shouted Santa Claus, and the clatter of 
the icicles which fell in a perfect shower on and around Mother 
Goose made her look up. 

“None of that!” repeated Santa Claus. “I am so tired of 
that old woman and her everlasting shoe, that I am thinking of 
having her scratched out of my new books. If you haven’t any 
new rhymes that are better than that, you had better turn round 
and go home again.” 

“Ho! ho!” cried Mother Goose. “You ungrateful loon, 
you! Why, that old poem- — yes, I insist upon it — poem" — she 
repeated, striking her stick on the ground — “ that old poem has 
pleased more children than you could count in a month of Sundays. 
None of the modern poets seem to know how to write to please 
the babies. Here is the last lot I’ve received. Read ’em ! Read 
’em ! and then tear ’em all up. I declare that unless I get some 
58 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


59 


really good ones before next Christmas I’ll just send out the same 
old batch. The children never seem to get tired of them. Here’s 
a lot of nonsense,” said the old lady, selecting a sheet from the 
bundle. “Listen to this: — 


MRS. ARITHMETIC’S PARTY. 

Mrs. Arithmetic gave a fine ball, 

To little and great, to big and to small. 

No one was neglected ; she tried very hard 

Not to leave out one person who should get a card. 

There was sweet Miss Addition the first one to come. 

And she footed it gaily with young Mr. Sum, 

Who, ’twas easy to see, was her favourite beau ; 

Though Subtraction proposed she had answered him — No! 
This refusal of course made Subtraction quite solemn, 

And he left very early, hid away in a column. 

Then Multiplication, that jolly old elf. 

Who was always on very good terms with himself — 

Tho’ any who knew the same Multiplication 
Declared that he caused them all endless vexation. 

Division came later, and, needless to say. 

Behaved himself meanly, as always his way. 

He made friends into foes, and spoiled all the fun 
Of the poor little figures from 9 down to i. 

The cute little fractions were there (very small) 

With their brothers, the decimals, not quite so tall ; 

And every one present had brought his relations, — 

None prouder than Lord Algebraic Equation.s. 

The Duke Logarithm and Count Trigonometry 
Had quite a long chat with the Marquis Geometry. 

Only five of the figures danced in the quadrille ; 

6, 7, and 8 went away feeling ill. 

While old Mr. 9, who had ate so much supper. 

Sat down in the library and read Martin Tupper. 

At last it was time for the people to go ; 

Each fair young figure selected her beau. 

And in leaving their hostess, they said one and all 
They had greatly enjoyed Dame Arithmetic’s ball. 


“ Fancy giving that for the mammas to read to their babies. 
They always will put too many ideas into the poetry; they will 


6o 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


be expecting the babies to think next ! Here’s another one. Did 
you ever hear the like? 

Why is the little boy crying ? 

Why does the little boy cry ? 

He has eaten so much of the roast beef, 

He has no room left for the pie.” 

“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed jolly old Santa Claus. “ Old Mother 
Goose is suffering from what men and women on earth call Pro- 
fes-sion-al Jea-lous-y. We shall have to give you some medicine 
in the shape of ad-verse crit-i-cism. That will cure you ! ha ! 
ha ! ha ! ” 

“ Oh, you will, will you ? You’ll give me some of that medi- 
cine, will you ? You had better not. Why, there is not a man or 
a woman on earth who has ever been a child who would not rise 
up and declare such conduct shameful. No, sir; you had better 



not — so take my advice. As for the poets, I have given them up, 
long ago, as hopeless. So many of them have taken to living alto- 
gether up here ‘ in the clouds,’ and they bother me all the time for 
orders to write new rhymes for the children ; but I have forbidden 
them from stirring outside the gardens of their own house. 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


6i 


“ Then the house where they live when they are in the clouds, 
— I am sure it is just like a Lunatic Asylum ; for they strut 
about, spouting and making up new poems on everything that 
takes place on earth, so that it is really quite laughable to see 
them. 

“ Some of them are nice, lovable people, and I take care they 
are not bothered by the noisy ones ; but some are quite danger- 


T have had to shut up 
em on the earth the 
1 indeed. But there, 
ay here chattering to 
that lot of nonsense, 
.nd if you find any- 
i it. 



“ Mercy on us ! 
Who’s that?” said 
the old lady sud- 



me ! ” she said, set- 
ting her spectacles 
straight ; “ I declare, 
child, you gave me 
quite a turn. I ac- 
tually thought it 
was Contrary Mary 


who had run away again. Come here and let me look at you,” 
and Mother Goose fell back into an armchair, which one of the 
little goblins had brought for her, and beamed so sweetly on 
Elfie that the little girl slipped down from Santa Claus’ knee and 
ran to the old lady’s outstretched arms. 


62 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


“And what is your name, my dear?” said the dame, after 
embracing Elbe and seating her on a footstool, which had risen 
through the floor at a nod from E-ma-ji-na-shun. 

“ Fm Elfie,” replied the little girl. 

“ Elfie, eh ? and a dear, sweet little girl you look,” said old 
Mother Goose. “And so you have started out with old E-ma-ji- 
na-shun to explore the wonders of Cloudland, have you? Well 
— well — there are not many little girls like that come up here. 
Nearly everybody waits till they are older; but we love the chil- 
dren best, after all,” and she kissed Elfie again. “ Now what do 
you want to see most that I can show you ? ” 

“ Oh ! ” said Elfie, “ I want to see where you live, and I want 
to see the old woman that lives in the shoe, and Jack and Jill, 
and Tom Tucker, and Jack Horner, and Jack Spratt, and Little 
Bo-peep.” 

“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed Mother Goose, “and so you shall, 
my lamb ; you shall see them all, and more too ; and what is better, 
I will give you a ride on my broomstick. What do you think of 
that ? ” 

Elfie did not know how to say thank you, enough ; but she 

tried, and said, “ Thank you ! ” 
over and over again, until 
Mother Goose closed her mouth 
with a kiss. 

“ Come along, then, dearie ! 
E-ma-ji-na-shun will come with 
us, for you could not go a step 
up here without him. Say good- 
bye to Santa Claus, and we will start at once; for I must get 
home and give Little Boy Blue his supper and see that Contrary 
Mary hasn’t run away again.” 

Elfie went up and kissed Santa Claus and started out with 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


63 


Mother Goose. They passed through the wonderful entrance 
across the terraces and down the snow steps. 

There Elfie saw one of Santa Claus’s sprites leading the cele- 
brated broomstick up and down, for Mother Goose said he had 
become rather heated on the way from her house, and she did not 
care to leave him standing still in the snow. 

Elfie examined the famous stick very curiously, for she had 
often wondered how a broomstick could fly through the air as this 
one did. She was rather surprised and a wee bit disappointed to 
see that it was nothing but an ordinary 
every-day broomstick, with a very old, 
worn-out broom at one end. Mother 
Goose took it from the goblin who had 
been looking after it, and 
taking it by the handle sat 
down on it, exactly as a lady 
would take a seat on a horse ; j 
Elfie took a seat in front of 
her, while E-ma-ji-na-shun 
jumped on behind. 

No sooner was Mother 
Goose seated, than the stick began to jump and dance about, and 
after one or two leaps, as though to show its powers, away it 
went sailing through the air ; keeping well up above the tallest 
trees. 

Elfie thought it delightful, and told Mother Goose so, but 
the old lady was too busy managing her steed to be able to 
give much attention to her. They flew and flew till they came 
in sight of what looked to Elfie like an enormous book stand- 
ing on end. One of the covers was towards them, and the 
broomstick, guided by Mother Goose, descended gently to the 
ground in front of it. 



64 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


“ Here we are at home ! ” said Mother Goose, and she took 
Elfie in her arms and jumped down from the broomstick; 
which at once started of its own accord for the stable. 


TRICK THE NINTH. 


Mother Goose's Home, and all the Stories. — Little Red Riding Hood tells Elfie all about the 
Fairy Story People. — A Piece of the Moon. 

HY, what a funny house it is ! ” cried Elfie, tak- 
ing a good look at what Mother Goose called 
her home. “ It looks like a great book.” 

“ Yes, my dear, that is just what it is intended to be,” said the 
old lady. “You see it is quite 
different from other houses; for 
though it is built in stories, the 
stories are one behind the other, 
just like a book, a story for every 
leaf. Come along, now, and you 
shall see it.” 

Mother Goose clapped her 
hands, and instantly the cover of 
this wonderful book flew open. 

But we must not forget what a 
splendid sight this cover was. 

It was covered with all sorts of 
the loveliest colours, with pic- 
tures of all of Mother Goose’s 
children done in gold and silver. It was like the outside of the 
finest Christmas Book you ever saw, only a thousand times more 
beautiful. 




6s 


66 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


Well, when the cover flew open, Elfie saw the first story, and 
a wonderful sight it was. There lived the old woman that lived 

the celebrated shoe, and 



scores upon scores of children 
ran about the place laughing 
and shouting at the top of 
their voices, and evidently driv- 
ing the old woman nearly 


crazy. The old woman 
herself looked older and 
more wrinkled than any- 
body that Elfie had ever 


seen, and she seemed to be worrying herself all the time about 
the behaviour of the children; for she would run. about in every 
direction, correcting this one, spanking another, or kissing another, 
just as she thought they deserved. 

The shoe had a door in the side, and was as big as an ordinary 
house. A lot of windows were in front where the holes for the 
laces would be in a real shoe, and the roof was made of what 
looked like an old stocking stuffed into the top. On a big sign 
in front was written the story: — 


“ There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, 

Who had so many children, she did not know what to do ; 
So she gave them some broth, without any bread, 

And spanked them all round and sent them to bed.” 


Elfie wanted to stay and play with the children, but Mother 
Goose told her that if she did, the old woman would spank 
her and send her to bed just the same as the others. So after 
a little while they passed on to the second story. 

Here lived Jack and Jill, Contrary Mary, and Little Boy 
Blue. They were having a game all together, and Mother 
Goose gave Elfie permission to join in. Jack and Jill would 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


67 


walk up a little hill at the back of a long walk, to a well that was 
at the top, where they 
filled a pail with water. 

Then they would start 
back, carrying the pail 
between them, when 
they tripped up and 
came tumbling down 
with the pail of water 
rolling after them. 

Then Contrary Mary sprinkled them with her watering pot, and 
Little Boy Blue blew a loud toot-toot-toot on his 
horn ; and everybody laughed till it was time for 
Jack and Jill to start off again. On the walls 
were big sheets of paper with the stories of Jack 
and Jill, Contrary Mary, and Little Boy Blue. 

After leaving this story they went through the 
others. Elfie saw Jack Horner eating the cele- 
brated pie, out of which he picked a plum for 
her; she heard Little Tom, Tucker sing for his 
supper, and was introduced to Jack Spratt and 
his wife. Then she had 
a long talk with Little Bo-peep, who 
told her all about losing the sheep; 
and she met Miss Muffet and the spi- 
der. 

It took them a long time to see all 
the book, but they got through at last, 
and old Mother Goose said, — 

“ Now I will show you some other 
friends of yours. They don’t properly 
belong to my family, but as I am in the 





68 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 



Story-telling business, they are placed in my charge to take care 
of. Look this way ! ” 

Elfie looked up and saw a very pretty cottage, and there, lean- 
ing out of the window, was a lovely little girl with blue eyes and 

golden hair, with a red 
hood on her head. In 
front of the door, 
and almost 
blocking it up, 
was a horrible 
sight — nothing 
else but a hide- 
ous wolf, stone 
dead, with its 
head split open, 
and its blood all 
around on the 
grass. 

“ Little Red 
Riding Hood ! ” cried 
Elfie. “ Do let me go 
up to her and kiss her ! ” She 
knocked at the door, and a sweet 
little voice inside called out, — 

“ Pull the string of the latch 
and walk in.” 

Elfie pulled the string, and the door opened. She ran up 
stairs, and after kissing Little Red Riding Hood, — for she felt 
they w'ere quite old friends, — she sat down with her on the edge 
of the snow-white bed and began to ask her about her adventures 
and how she came there. 

“Well, dear,” said Red Riding Hood, “you must know that 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


69 


after my grandmother was eaten up, and the horrid wolf was 
killed, there was no one to live in the cottage, so the people of 
Cloudland said that as the earth children would always love to 
hear my story, it would be best for me to live here forever, and 
keep the wolf, just as he was killed, in front of the door; so that 
any one who ever disbelieved the story could see us both and 
know it was true.” 

“ How deeply interesting,” said Elfie ; “ but do you live here all 
by yourself? Don’t you ever see anybody? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” replied Red Riding Hood. “ Cinderella lives in the 
palace you see over there, and she often calls, and the Sleeping 
Beauty is not far off. Then Jack the Giant-Killer calls every 
Saturday evening,” she added with a pretty blush ; “ he wants me 
to marry him, but I do not think they will let us marry,” she 
sighed. 

“Then the two Babes that were lost in the Wood are buried 
under the leaves close by here, and the Robins often come and tell 
me how the graves look. 

“ Oh, yes,” she went on, “ I have lots of company ; all the peo- 
ple in the fairy-story books are good friends of mine, and we 
sometimes have a big picnic in the woods together. 

“ Puss-in-Boots and Hop-o’-my-thumb make lots of fun for us; 
and sometimes when Blue Beard or some of the other wicked 
people won’t behave, we get E-ma-ji-na-shun to give them indiges- 
tion, so that they get quite sick and keep quiet.” 

“ And how are Cinderella and her prince, and the vSleeping 
Beauty and her prince, and all the rest of the good people? ” asked 
Elfie. 

“ Oh, they are all well and happy,” replied Red Riding Hood. 
“ You see we story-book people never get any older, and after we 
are married, we are never sick, nor unhappy, nor anything. After 
the story is finished, we just go on living happy forever.” 


70 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


“ Isn’t that splendid ! ” said Elfie. “ But Mother Goose is wait- 
ing for me. Good-bye, dear ; I am so glad to have met you.” 

“ Good-bye, Elfie ! Call again when you come to Cloudland. 
Good-bye ! ” And Elfie ran down to Mother Goose, who had 
waited for her in front of the house. 

“ Now, Elfie, child, what is the next thing you want to see in 
Cloudland?” said she. 

“ Oh ! you dear old Mother Goose, it seems to me that I have 
seen everything and everybody I have ever wondered at, and I’ll 
never, never forget you, and I hope I shall come back again and 
again. Yes,” Elfie went on, “ there is nothing now that I have 
wondered at that I have not seen — except — except — ” 

“What?” asked Mother Goose. 

“ Except the moon,” said Elfie. 

“ The moon, child ! ” cried the dame ; “ what ever do you want 
to know about the moon ? ” 

“ I want to know what it is, and why it gets small and large 
again, and who the man in the moon is, and oh, dear me, I don’t 
understand it at all,” sighed the little girl. 

“Ha! ha! my dear,” chuckled the soft, quaint little voice of 
E-ma-ji-na-shun, who was seated on Elfie’s shoulder. “Whenever 
you don’t understand anything you must come to me to help you 
out. I can always explain everything fully. To be sure, when 
you get down to earth again, it is likely you will wonder just as 
much as ever about all the things I have explained to you ; but 
then, you will always have the satisfaction of knowing that what 
I have told you might be true, after all. 

“ And now, if you will be so good as to take a seat on this yel- 
low stone, I will explain this moon business to you.” 

“ Why, what a funny stone ! ” said Elfie, looking at the seat 
he had pointed out to her, which was a round, yellowish-green- 
looking stone. 


ELFfE'S VISIT TO CLOU BLAND. 


71 


“ Yes ! ” said the old gentleman, “ you may well say that. Look 
at it again. What does it look like ? ” 

“ It looks like cheese,” replied Elfie. 

“ It is cheese,” said E-ma-ji-na-shun ; “ taste 
it ! smell it ! it is cheese, and the very best 
quality, too; for it is a piece of the identical moon itself!!!” 



TRICK THE TENTH. 



A few Facts about the Moon. — It is made of Cheese. — 
Elfie and E-ma-ji-na-shun start for the Moon on the 
Broomstick. — The Cloud-Ship. 

PIECE of the moon?” cried Elfie. 

“Yes, my dear, a piece of the moon! 
The moon is made of the very finest qual- 
ity of green cheese, as you may have heard. Of 
course I know lots of people say it isn’t, but it 
is all the same, and I will tell you about it. 

“ You see the people who live in Cloudland and the Realm of 
Eancy live almost entirely on cheese, and the moon is the cheese 
they eat. We eat just so much every day, and every day the 
moon is just that 
much smaller until 
there is nothing left 
but the faintest rim, 
which is the rind of 
the cheese, and then 
that is eaten up too. 

Then for the two 
weeks which passes 
before there is another full moon, we have to live upon what we 

have laid by during the two weeks of plenty, and as soon as the 
72 



ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


73 



new cheese is completed, we fall to and devour that, and so on 
forever.” 

“ And who is the man in the moon, and where do the new 
moons come from?” asked Elfie. 

“The man in the moon,” said E-ma-ji-na-shun, 

“ is a very jolly old chap whom I created and 
placed up there in charge of the stores. 

He also makes the new moons out 
of the Milky Way, which your 
papa will show you the next time 
you ask him. As soon as the old 
moon is eaten up, he starts off in 
a cloud-ship to the Milky Way and lays in a new supply of cream 
and begins to make a new cheese. 


“He first makes a thin half-circle for a foundation; this is 
the new moon. Then he lays it on in thick layers every day 




74 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


until the moon is round and full, when he takes up his residence 
upon it, and does nothing but look jolly till the cheese is all gone. 

“ He sends down the day’s supply by cloud-ships, and keeps 
five of them busy all the time. Just break off a piece of your seat 
and see how good it is.” 

Elfie nibbled a piece of the cheese and found it very nice 
indeed, nicer than any cheese she had eaten on the earth. 

“ Oh, how I should like to go there ! ” she cried, “ and see the 
dear, jolly old man ! What a lot of things he must have to talk 
about, for he has looked down at the world so long that he must 
have seen no end of strange sights.” 

“Well, my dear, if you want to see the man in the moon, come 

along. Let us borrow Mother 
Goose’s broomstick, and off we 
will go. It’s a long way, and 
you must hold on tightly. 
Order out the broomstick. 
Mother ! ” 

But the broomstick did not 
wait to be fetched ; for before 
E-ma-ji-na-shun had done talk- 
ing — hey, presto ! — there it 
was prancing and kicking up 
its shabby old brush as though 
it were the finest-looking horse in Cloudland. 

Elfie waved her hand to Mother Goose, and mounted the stick, 
holding on tight. E-ma-ji-na-shun sprang on behind, and shoo — 
whizz ! — they were off ! 

That was something like a ride. They mounted so quickly 
that the clouds they passed through looked as if they were falling, 
and the sky began to look so near that Elfie was afraid she would 
bump her head. Suddenly E-ma-ji-na-shun laid hold of the string 



EL FIB'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


75 


which served for a rein to their steed, and brought the broom- 
stick to a standstill. 

“What’s the matter?” thought Elfie. “We certainly are not 
at the moon yet.” 

“Look out!” cried E-ma-ji-na-shun. “Here comes one of the 
cloud-ships laden with cheese.” 



Elfie saw what seemed to her nothing but a light, fleecy 
cloud flying along before the wind, as she had often seen them 
do on a windy day. 

E-ma-ji-na-shun told her that every one of those tiny cloud- 
lets she had seen was a ship carrying messages or freight to 
and fro among the people of Cloudland. 

As the cloud she was looking at came nearer and nearer 
in its descent, she saw that it was the exact shape of a ship, 
with masts, sails, and rigging complete. The deck was heaped 
up with what seemed quite a mountain of cheese. Tiny gob- 



76 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


lins, with round, full-moon faces, and dressed like sailors, were 
running about, pulling on ropes and hoisting the snow-white sails 
on the purple masts. One of them, who 
seemed to be all head and legs, — for his head 
was very large and round, with long spidery 
legs growing from beneath his chin, — was 
standing on the top of the heap of cheese, 
directing the sailors. 

“That man,” said her guide, “is the cele- 
brated Captain Nemo, that your brothers have 
read about ; perhaps yOu know him better 
He is the captain of this ship, T/ie Golden 

As he spoke, the crew of the cloud-ship caught sight of Elfie 
and the broomstick, and they rushed to the side of the vessel to 
give a hoarse little cheer, which sounded to Elfie very much like 
. the sighing of the wind. As they passed quite close they sprang 
into the rigging and waved their tiny caps, while Captain Nobody 
shouted through his speaking- 
trumpet, “ A pleasant voyage to 
you ! ” 

Just then a gust of wind filled 
the sails of The Golden Fleece, 
and away she went through the 
air, pitching and tossing quite 
like a real ship on the ocean. 

The last Elfie saw of it, it 
was disappearing into a sea of 
mist, with all the wee sailors 
hard at work hauling and pulling, taking in sail ; with Captain 
Nobody running about, giving orders and stamping his feet 
because they were too slow about it. 




ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


77 


As soon as The Golden Fleece had vanished into the mist, 
E-ma-ji-na-shun started the broomstick, and away they went again 


on their voyage. 

It seemed only a very short 
they were coming quite close to 
a very large something I which 
grew bigger and bigger as they 
came nearer. 

“ There’s the moon ! ” shouted 
E-ma-ji-na-shun. “It is only a 
little time past being full, so 
that you will be able to see it 
at its very best. Now be very 
careful, my dear, as you step off.” 

As he spoke, the broomstick 
surface of the moon. 


time before Elfie was aware that 



descended very gently on to the 



TRICK THE ELEVENTH. 


Elfie arrives at the Moon. 



^OW, step off carefully,” said E-ma-ji-na-shun, “or 
you will fall into one of the pits that the moon 
goblins have made in digging out the last cargo 
of cheese.” 

Elfie did as she was told, and was very, 
careful as she stepped down from her seat; 
then she looked around her. Here she was actually at the moon 
at last! What a wonderful sight! As far as the eye could see 
in every direction there were stretched out miles upon miles of 
cheese. 

In some places it was quite flat, forming great level plains, but 
it was broken up here and there by what looked like great moun- 
tains and deep valleys. “ These were made,” said E-ma-ji-na-shun, 
“ by the goblins, who are called mites up here, digging out the 
supplies for the people of Cloudland.” 

Hundreds of thousands of these little fellows were hard at 
work digging away at the golden soil, piling it into heaps, and 
loading into tiny railroad cars which ran from the mines to the 
wharves at the edge of the moon, where it was thrown into heaps 
all ready for loading into the next cloud-ship that put in for a 
cargo. Elfie noticed that on the top of every heap and mountain 
a big fire was blazing away brightly. E-ma-ji-na-shun told her 
78 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


79 


that these were kept going all the time, so that the workmen, who 
never slept, could see to work at night. The cloud-ships came for 
their cargoes at all hours, and no delay was possible. 

“ It is the light from these fires that makes the moon shine so 
to the people of the earth,” added the old gentleman, with a sly 
twinkle in his eye. “ If you will look out of your window on the 
next windy night we have, you may, perhaps, see some of the 
cloud-ships at the wharves, loading up with cheese ready for their 
voyage.” 



All this while they were walking along towards the centre of 
the moon, and Elfie, who kept her eyes open, saw that there was 
a very high mountain looking something like a fantastic-shaped 
castle rising out of the middle of the plain. 


8o 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOU BLAND. 


“There’s the home of the man in the moon,” said her guide. 
“ Of course, as that part of the moon gets eaten up, he has to 
move over towards the edge; but he always makes himself a cas- 
tle where he can rest comfortably after the hard work of making 
the new moon.” 

As they came near, she saw in front of a large hole in the side 
of the mountain, shaped like a door, an enormous man. Elfie 
thought he must be at least fifty feet high. He was dressed in a 
long brown coat which reached to his knees; on his legs were 
long blue stockings with purple trunks; his shoes were very long 
and pointed ; his cap was blue and out to a point in front, while 
a long amber-coloured feather, which floated up from it, showed 
that he was a little bit vain of his personal appearance. His head 
was very, very large, forming at least one-third of his whole 
height. The face was round and full, and very jolly-looking; a 
slight droop to the left eyelid gave his eyes such a quaint, sly 
look that nobody who looked at him could possibly help laughing. 

He was sitting down on a great heap of cheese, having his 
dinner, and to show you what a very extraordinary man he was, 
he was eating the front of his own house. 

“ Hullo! ” he shouted, when he saw our little traveller; “hullo! 
what brings you here ? It isn’t often that I have the pleasure of 
speaking to one of you earth-children. Come here, and let me 
shake hands with you.” 

He stooped down and took Elfie’s hand in his mighty fist and 
shook it warmly. 

“Sit down, sit down, little one! Here is a nice seat. Of 
course you want to ask questions. I never knew anybody that 
came from the earth who did not. Go right on, and I will tell 
you all you want to know.” 

Elfie settled herself comfortably on her soft cheese seat, and 
made up her mind to enjoy herself. 


ELFIE^S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


“In the first place,” she said, “I want to know about some of 
the things you have seen from here ; and why do you look so jolly, 
please? I should have thought that you would feel more like 
crying all the time, for you have to work so hard making the new 
moons. Then I have read and heard so much of the misery that 
there is in the world, and which you must look at and see every 
night — doesn’t it all make you very wretched? I can’t under- 
stand how you manage to look so happy about it.” 

While Elfie was speaking, the man in the moon began to look 
very serious, and when she had finished, he buried his big round 
face in his hands. After a while he looked, but all the smjling, 
happy look had gone. 

“ My little girl,” he said, “ you have asked me questions which 
would take me a lifetime to answer. This, though, I can say — 
that I have seen a great deal of trouble and wretchedness go on 
on the earth, but I have seen also a great number of things to 
rejoice at and make me glad. Long, long ago I found that to sit 
down and make myself miserable about things that I could not 
help, did me no earthly good, and that any one who did so only 
crippled his own chances for usefulness. By wearing a bright 
and cheerful face I have made many people happy and kept my 
own heart young. You and others might remember this. 

“ As for my working so hard making me cry, I can tell you 
that the very best help towards making a contented mind is to 
work — work — work ; not certainly to toil on forever with no 
rests for play or pleasure, but to do something every day. I have 
always found that when I could sit down to rest with the knowl- 
edge that I had accomplished something, I was always happier 
for it and could enjoy myself much better. 

“ Now for the things I have seen, I could, as you may well 
believe, tell you more stories about the things that have happened 
under my light, the crimes at which I have hid my face, the joys 


82 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND. 


I have shone upon, and the happiness or misery of thousands 
which I have witnessed, than you could get into the biggest story 
that ever was written. 

“ Some day I will tell you some of these stories, but I think 
you are now pretty well tired after your long flight with E-ma-ji- 
na-shun, so we will wait for another time. 

“ Come and see me again, and I will give you a packet of 
stories that will last you till next Christmas. Good-bye, my dear 
little child — good-bye — good-bye — good-bye.” 

Elfie certainly had begun to feel very sleepy ; she had had so 
much to see and to think about that she was feeling quite tired. 
Several times during the last part of the speech she had felt her 
head nodding, and as he was saying, “Good-bye — good-bye — 
good-bye,” her head sank lower and lower — her eyes closed. 
The man, the castle, the moon, E-ma-ji-na-shun, grew dimmer and 
dimmer, at last disappeared altogether, and Elfie was fast asleep. 



TRICK THE TWELFTH. 



Elfie returns to Earth . — Where is E-ma-ji-na-shun ? 

— The new Puzzle. 

AKE UP, wake up, Elfie,” called a familiar 
voice. “ Wake up ! why, you have been fast 
asleep before the fire for the last two hours.” 
Elfie opened her eyes and found herself in 
the same chair that Mr. Krome had sat in when he had taken her 
on his lap and told her about E-ma-ji-na-shun. 

She could hardly believe her senses. Where were all the 
wonderful things she had seen? Where was the Toy Castle, 
Mother Goose, the broomstick, the moon, and the dear old man? 
And where was E-ma-ji-na-shun? 

She sat up in the chair and rubbed her eyes. There was the 
fire, just as it had looked when E-ma-ji-na-shun had appeared out 
of the smoke. Everything was just as usual ; but while she looked, 
she hear4 the ashes drop from the grate, and she started as she 
recognised the familiar chuckle of the quaint old man who had 
shown her the wonders of Cloudland. 

Could it have all been a dream? she wondered. No. She 
was sure it had all happened. She could remember everything 
she had seen and every word she had heard. Where was Mr. 
Krome? He had gone away while she had been in Cloudland. 

83 


84 


ELFIE'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND 


How did she get back? — -and she laughed as she thought how 
old E-ma-ji-na-shun would have chuckled and said, — 

“ Hal ha! another one of my tricks, my dear.” 

Well, it was no use worrying about it. One thing she made 
up her mind about. She would have Mr. Krome bring E-ma-ji- 
na-shun to her again the first time he called. She wanted very 
much to go to the moon again ; there was one question she had 
never asked, and now it was worrying her just as much as all the 
other things had worried her before her journey to the Realm of 
Fancy. 

Now I am sure you will think that Elfie was one of those 
little people who are bound to worry about something; who, if 
they have one thing explained to them, they are not happy till they 
are miserable over something else. 

I think so myself, and I am quite out of patience with her. 

What do you suppose she was worrying about now ? 

How does the moon stay up there without tumbling down? 

What do you think about it ? 












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